EARTH SCIENCE FINAL EXAM QUESTION WITH 100%
CORRECT ANSWER 2025/2026
4 main lay seers - troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere
Temperature of troposphere - temperature decreases as you go up in atmosphere
Temperature of stratosphere - temperatures are elevated due to greenhouse gases and the ozone
layer
Temperature of mesosphere - temperatures drop rapidly due to loss of heat
Temperature of thermosphere - temperatures are elevated due to the suns radiated energy (heat)
Temperature - the measurement of the current thermal reading of a substance
Heat - form of energy that can be transferred
Seasonality - Seasons are present because the earth rotates on a tilted axis which is sometimes
pointed towards the sun (summer) and sometimes pointing away (winter)
States of matter for water - solid, liquid, gas- moving from solid to gas uptakes energy (latent heat),
moving from gas to solid releases heat
Saturation - the amount of water that the surrounding air can hold
Humidity - Relative percentage of saturation in the air
Adiabatic cooling and heating - air expands and cools as it rises, an as air parcel rises it cools, water
vapor condenses and forms clouds
, Absolute Stability - rising air cools faster that the surrounding environmental air, needs a driving
force to push it upward (mountain range)
Absolute Instability - rising air cools slower than surrounding air, buoyancy of the warmer air propels
it upward
Conditional Instability - dry rate of adiabatic cooling is cooling the parcel of air faster than the
surrounding environment, past the condensation point the wet rate cools the air slower than the
surrounding air. During the dry rate of cooling a front or mountain range is needed to give the
upward force; however, after the parcel passes the condensation point the buoyancy of the warmer
air carries it upward
3 types of clouds - cirrus, stratus, cumulus
Cirrus clouds - only occur at high elevations and in thin layers
Stratus clouds - occur in sheets/layers (this is the broad flat gray clouds that you see in overcast)
Cumulus Clouds - big puffy clouds often associated with thunderstorms
Advection Fog - fogs caused by cooling, forms when warm air covers cool water surface
Steam Fog - fogs caused by evaporation, when cool air covers warm water surface
Bergeron Process - occurs in cold high altitude clouds, the rate at which snow crystals form is faster
than the rate at which water droplets form. Snow crystals become denser than surrounding air and
fall out of the cloud. If they pass through a warm front on the way down then they will melt into rain;
however, if they pass through a cold front they will stay frozen
Collision-Coalescence Process - occurs in warmer low level cloud formations, water droplets combine
as they descend creating larger rain droplets. Rain droplets can never reach a size larger than 5mm
due to the wind pressure exhibited on the drop as it falls
Air Masses - categorized by where they form and the surface that they form over (polar vs tropical,
continental vs marine)
CORRECT ANSWER 2025/2026
4 main lay seers - troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere
Temperature of troposphere - temperature decreases as you go up in atmosphere
Temperature of stratosphere - temperatures are elevated due to greenhouse gases and the ozone
layer
Temperature of mesosphere - temperatures drop rapidly due to loss of heat
Temperature of thermosphere - temperatures are elevated due to the suns radiated energy (heat)
Temperature - the measurement of the current thermal reading of a substance
Heat - form of energy that can be transferred
Seasonality - Seasons are present because the earth rotates on a tilted axis which is sometimes
pointed towards the sun (summer) and sometimes pointing away (winter)
States of matter for water - solid, liquid, gas- moving from solid to gas uptakes energy (latent heat),
moving from gas to solid releases heat
Saturation - the amount of water that the surrounding air can hold
Humidity - Relative percentage of saturation in the air
Adiabatic cooling and heating - air expands and cools as it rises, an as air parcel rises it cools, water
vapor condenses and forms clouds
, Absolute Stability - rising air cools faster that the surrounding environmental air, needs a driving
force to push it upward (mountain range)
Absolute Instability - rising air cools slower than surrounding air, buoyancy of the warmer air propels
it upward
Conditional Instability - dry rate of adiabatic cooling is cooling the parcel of air faster than the
surrounding environment, past the condensation point the wet rate cools the air slower than the
surrounding air. During the dry rate of cooling a front or mountain range is needed to give the
upward force; however, after the parcel passes the condensation point the buoyancy of the warmer
air carries it upward
3 types of clouds - cirrus, stratus, cumulus
Cirrus clouds - only occur at high elevations and in thin layers
Stratus clouds - occur in sheets/layers (this is the broad flat gray clouds that you see in overcast)
Cumulus Clouds - big puffy clouds often associated with thunderstorms
Advection Fog - fogs caused by cooling, forms when warm air covers cool water surface
Steam Fog - fogs caused by evaporation, when cool air covers warm water surface
Bergeron Process - occurs in cold high altitude clouds, the rate at which snow crystals form is faster
than the rate at which water droplets form. Snow crystals become denser than surrounding air and
fall out of the cloud. If they pass through a warm front on the way down then they will melt into rain;
however, if they pass through a cold front they will stay frozen
Collision-Coalescence Process - occurs in warmer low level cloud formations, water droplets combine
as they descend creating larger rain droplets. Rain droplets can never reach a size larger than 5mm
due to the wind pressure exhibited on the drop as it falls
Air Masses - categorized by where they form and the surface that they form over (polar vs tropical,
continental vs marine)
